Dr. Anthony Fauci “strongly recommended” Sunday that people only get a Covid-19 booster shot when the government approves it for their specific demographic and shot, suggesting that while a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel only approved Pfizer booster shots for certain groups this week, their recommendation will likely change as more data comes in.
Fauci defended the Biden administration’s earlier decision to announce that booster shots would roll out for everyone starting September 20, saying on Meet the Press Sunday that announcement was “always contingent” on FDA approval.
Though the FDA panel has so far only approved Pfizer/BioNTech booster shots for senior citizens, those with underlying conditions and people who face a higher risk of Covid-19 exposure, Fauci said on CNN more data is coming in on a “daily and weekly basis” and he “believe[s] you will see an evolution of this process.”
“The story is not over yet,” Fauci said on CNN, adding on Meet the Press that while he “believe[s] that there’s a good chance” the data will say a “much broader blanket of people” need booster shots, “we don’t know that for sure now.”
“The wait is not going to be very long” for decisions on Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster shots, Fauci said on CNN, predicting data will come in on those shots in approximately two to three weeks that will allow the FDA to move forward with approving those shots.
While he realizes it’s “human nature” that people will get booster shots even before they’re officially approved, Fauci said government medical experts are “strongly recommending that people do not do that” and people should instead wait for official approval from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“There’s always a theoretical risk” to getting a Covid-19 booster shot before it’s officially approved “because the studies have not been done” to prove for sure that it’s safe and effective, Fauci said on CNN. “It is very unlikely that there will be a risk there…but scientifically you don’t want to go by unlikely, you want to have some scientific proof.”